Engine turn-over attachment



y 1967 R. T. WHEELER ENGINE TURN-OVER ATTACHMENT Filed Nov. 9, 1964INVENTOR. Bah/2d 7? wheeler WWW United States Patent 3,321,985 ENGINETURN-OVER ATTACHMENT Roland T. Wheeler, 744 Empire Ave., Modesto,(Ialif. 95351 Filed Nov. 9, 1964, Ser. No. 409,907 Claims. (Cl. 74-325)This invention relates to internal combustion engines, and particularlyto a tool which facilitates manually controlled turning over of theengine when it is desired to effect the removal, replacement, oradjustment of certain parts thereof, such as the valves, fuel injectingequipment, magneto or distributor timing elements, and various otherengine features, all of which are connected in some manner to and areactuated by rotation of the flywheel of the engine.

In the greater percentage of present day engines, however, the flywheelis enclosed and there is no way to rotate the same (when the engineitself is not running) other than by the usual starter motor which isoperatively gear-connected to the flywheel and thus does not lead itselfto effecting very small arcs of rotation thereof. In any case, suchstarter motors are arranged to only rotate the flywheel in onedirection.

It is, therefore, the major object of my invention to provide a noveltool for manually rotating the flywheel (and consequently the engine) ineither direction and in small increments, and which tool is in the formof an attachment adapted to be mounted on the engine upon removal of thestarter motor unit therefrom; the attachment being provided with apinion which meshes with the ring gear on the flywheel in place of thepinion which is a part of the starter motor unit.

Another object of the invention is to mount the pinion of the attachmentin a manner so that-when the latter is secured to an engine-such pinionmay be readily rotated in either direction by means of a conventionalratchet wrench or the like.

The attachment includes a reversible mounting plate adapted to take theplace of the corresponding plate of the starter motor unit, and anadditional object of the invention is to reversibly support theaforesaid pinion in connection with the mounting plate in such a mannerthat the distance of the pinion from the plate may be readily altered,so as to accommodate the attachment for use on engines having differentdistances between the flywheel ring gear and the mounting plate supporton the engine block.

It is also an object of the invention to provide an at tachmen-t, forthe purpose described, in which the pinion is removable from themounting plate whereby pinions having diflferent tooth pitches may beindividually and selectively employed in order to attain proper meshwith a given flywheel ring gear.

A further object of the invention is to provide an engine turn-overattachment which is designed for ease and economy of manufacture.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a practical,reliable and durable engine turn-over attachment and one which isexceedingly effective for the purpose for which it is designed.

These objects are accomplished by means of such structure and relativearrangement of parts as will fully appear by a perusal of the followingspecification and claims.

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary outline of a typical motor vehicle engine,showing the engine turn-over attachment mounted thereon.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged outer end elevation of the attachment beforemounting on an engine.

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FIG. 3 is an enlarged sectional elevation of the attachment, taken online 33 of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a similar view, but showing the parts reversed.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings and to the characters ofreference marked thereon, the tool or attachment comprises a reversiblemounting plate 1 which is generally of the same size and configurationas, and temporarily replaces, the mounting plate of the starter motorunit (not shown) of the engine 2.

The plate 1 includes peripherally spaced, outwardly projecting ears 3having radial bolt-receiving slots 4 there in positioned so that two atleast aline with the tapped holes in the flange 5 of the engine block 6at the rear end and On one side thereof, and which slots and tappedholes receive the cap screws 7 which normally hold the starter mountingplate in position.

On each side the plate 1, radially inward from the ears 3, is formedwith a circular shoulder 8. These shoulders may be of the same orsomewhat diiferent sizes, and either of which is adapted to fit into theopening 9 already formed in the flange 6, as shown in FIG. 1. The plate1 is also formed with a central elongated sleeve 10 which projects in anaxial direction further from one side of the plate 1 than from theother; said sleeve, throughout its length, having a bore 11 of constantdiameter.

Removably mounted in the bore 11 is a spindle 12 which at one end isformed with an enlarged, exteriorly cylindrical portion 13 whichprojects from one end of the sleeve 10 and is formed with an outwardlyopening, noncircular socket 14 adapted to removably receive the turnableelement or stud of a standard ratchet wrench W. The enlarged portion 13turnably engages and fits the bore 11, and outwardly of said bore saidportion 13 is formed with a circumferential groove 15 in which adetachable snap-ring 16 is seated and which snap-ring engages theadjacent end of the sleeve 10.

Toward its opposite end, the spindle 12 is formed with another enlarged,exteriorly cylindrical portion 17 wihch also turnably fits in theadjacent end portion of the bore 11.

Just beyond the enlarged portion 17, the spindle is formed with anenlarged radial stop flange 18 which abuts against the adjacent end ofthe sleeve 10; the distance 'between the adjacent faces of the snap-ring16 and said flange 18 being equal to the length of the sleeve 10 so thatthe spindle may rotate but cannot move lengthwise in the sleeve as longas the snap-ring is in place.

Also formed with the spindle 12 and extending axially beyond the flange18 is a pinion 19 of a size and having a tooth pitch to mesh with theteeth of the usual ring gear 20 which surrounds and is fixed on theflywheel 21 of the engine 2.

When the above described attachment is mounted in position with pinion19 in mesh with the ring gear 20, the flywheel may be rotated little bylittle by means of the ratchet wrench W, and the crank shaft of theengine correspondingly turned over as may be desired when engine repairsor adjustments are being made.

When the spindle 12 is mounted in the sleeve 10 in the position shown inFIG. 3, the attachment is used on an engine in which the flywheel ringgear 29 is a certain distance rearwardly of the flange 6. In someengines however, the flywheel ring gear 20 is closer to the flange 6.For use of the attachment in the latter event, the position of thespindle 12 in the sleeve 16 is reversed so that the pinion 19 Will thenbe at the end of the sleeve 10 closest to the plate 1, as shown in FIG.4; said mounting plate 1 also being reversed before the attachment isinstalled on the engine.

Additionally, the removability of the spindle 12 enables one spindle tobe readily replaced by another having a pinion 19 of a diflferent toothpitch from that of said one pinion should this be necessary toaccommodate the attachment to a certain engine.

While any one attachment may be made so as to accommodate it for use ondifferent engines of the same general design and size, as hereinbeforeindicated, it will be obvious that different models of the attachmentmust be provided for use on the many varied types and sizes of internalcombustion engines now in service in a number of industries, and inconnection with the repair or adjustment of such engines the attachmentwould be of value.

From the foregoing description, it will be readily seen that there hasbeen produced such an engine turn-over attachment, as substantiallyfulfills the objects of the invention, as set forth herein.

While this specification sets forth in detail the present and preferredconstruction of the engine turn-over attachment, still in practice suchdeviations from such detail may be resorted to as do not form adeparture from the spirit of the invention, as defined by the appendedclaims.

Having thus described the invention, the following is claimed as new anduseful and upon which Letters Patent is desired:

1. A turn-over attachment for an internal combustion engine, said enginehaving a flywheel enclosed by means which includes a transverse flangeon one side of the engine, the flange having an opening therethrough, aring gear extending about the flywheel, and a starter motor unit havinga mounting plate detachably secured on the outer face of the flange anda pinion removably meshing with the gear; the attachment comprising amounting plate adapted to be detachably secured on the flange over theopening upon removal of the starter motor unit, a sleeve formed withsaid plate at a right angle thereto, a spindle turnably mounted in thesleeve, a pinion on the inner end of the spindle beyond the sleeve inposition to mesh with the gear, and means provided with the spindle atits outer end for engagement with a hand tool for turning the spindleand pinion.

2. An attachment, as in claim 1, in which the spindle is exposed to theouter end of the sleeve, and said means includes a non-circularlongitudinal socket in the outer end portion of the spindle for matchingreception of a stud included in the hand tool.

3. An attachment, as in claim 1, in which the sleeve is elongated andprojects further from one face of the mounting plate than from theopposite face thereof, and means reversibly mounting the spindle in thesleeve; the mounting plate being reversible relative to the transverseflange.

4. An attachment, as in claim 3, in which said last named meanscomprises an enlarged flange on the spindle back from the pinion andengaging the inner end of the sleeve, the spindle adjacent its outer endhaving a circumferential groove adjacent but outwardly of the outer endof the sleeve, and a snap ring removably engaged in the groove; thespindle being slid-ably removable from the sleeve upon detachment of thesnap ring.

5. A turn-over attachment for an internal combustion engine, said enginehaving a flywheel enclosed by means which includes an exposed flangehaving an opening there through, and the flywheel having a ring gearthereon, a portion of said gear being exposed to the opening; theattachment comprising a mounting plate adapted to be detachably securedon the outer face of said exposed flange over the opening, an initiallyopen ended sleeve formed with and projecting inwardly through theopening, the sleeve being parallel to the axis of the flywheel, aspindle turnably secured in and projecting from the sleeve, a pinion onthe inner end of the spindle, the pinion being in mesh with the gear,and means formed on the outer end of the spindle for engagement with ahand tool for turning said spindle and pinion.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS FRED C. MATTERN, ]R., PrimaryExaminer.

DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Examiner.

C. J. HUSAR, Assistant Examiner.

1. A TURN-OVER ATTACHMENT FOR AN INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE, SAID ENGINEHAVING A FLYWHEEL ENCLOSED BY MEANS WHICH INCLUDES A TRANSVERSE FLANGEON ONE SIDE OF THE ENGINE, THE FLANGE HAVING AN OPENING THERETHROUGH, ARING GEAR EXTENDING ABOUT THE FLYWHEEL, AND A STARTER MOTOR UNIT HAVINGA MOUNTING PLATE DETACHABLY SECURED ON THE OUTER FACE OF THE FLANGE ANDA PINION REMOVABLY MESHING WITH THE GEAR; THE ATTACHMENT COMPRISING AMOUNTING PLATE ADAPTED TO BE DETACHABLY SECURED ON THE FLANGE OVER THEOPENING UPON REMOVAL OF THE STARTER MOTOR UNIT, A SLEEVE FORMED WITHSAID PLATE AT A RIGHT ANGLE THERETO, A SPINDLE TRUNABLY MOUNTED IN THESLEEVE, A PINION ON THE INNER END OF THE SPINDLE BEYOND THE SLEEVE INPOSITION TO MESH WITH THE GEAR, AND MEANS PROVIDED WITH THE SPINDLE ATITS OUTER END FOR ENGAGEMENT WITH A HAND TOOL FOR TURNING THE SPINDLEAND PINION.